Podcast hosting
Top Simplecast competitors 10 competitors in Simplecast's market
- Competitors listed
- 10
- Ranked on the scorecard
- 10
- Simplecast's rank
- #17 of 22
- With a free plan
- 5
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
These are the 10 tools closest to Simplecast in its own market: podcast hosting platforms that list podcast hosting too, picked by shared categories and how close their entry price is to Simplecast's (the rules are below).
10 of them are ranked on the podcast hosting platforms scorecard; Podomatic is the highest at 81/100 (#3 of 22 in the category).
Simplecast itself is #17 of 22 with 67/100, so 8 competitors on this list rank above it.
Simplecast's cheapest paid plan is $13.50 per month billed annually (Basic). On the same billing basis, 2 of 5 competitors with a published price start lower and 3 start higher; entry plans are not like-for-like, so check the limits.
5 competitors have a free plan; Simplecast does not.
Simplecast vs its competitors: market position
| Rank | Tool | Score | From, billed monthly | From, billed yearly | Free plan | Public API | Integrations | Features verified | Data checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #17 | SimplecastThis tool | 67/100 | Not offered | $13.50/mo | No | Yes | – | 6 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #3 |  Podomatic | 81/100 | $9.99/mo | Not offered | Yes | – | – | 3 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #4 |  RSS.com | 81/100 | Not offered | $15/mo | Yes | Yes | – | 9 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #5 |  RedCircle | 81/100 | $14.99/mo | Not offered | Yes, 1 show | – | – | 8 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #6 |  Buzzsprout | 79/100 | Not offered | $15/mo | Yes, 2 upload hours per month | Yes | – | 8 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #10 |  Libsyn | 74/100 | $12/mo | Not offered | No | Yes | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #12 |  Transistor | 72/100 | $19/mo | Not offered | No | Yes | – | 8 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #14 |  Podbean | 69/100 | $17/mo | $12/mo | Yes | – | – | 10 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #16 |  Castos | 69/100 | $19/mo | Not offered | No | – | – | 9 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #18 |  Captivate | 67/100 | Not offered | $17/mo | No | – | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #19 |  Podpage | 61/100 | $19/mo | $12/mo | No | – | 30 | 3 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each value links the page it was read from (hover for the check date).
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
How each competitor differs from Simplecast
- Podomatic · #3, 81/100
Podcast hosting service offering recording, publishing, one-click directory submission, listener statistics and donation tools.
- Score: 81/100, #3 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $9.99 billed monthly; not compared with Simplecast, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Free plan: yes (Simplecast: no) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support)
4 of 14 tracked details verified
Homepage captured Oct 14, 2026 - RSS.com · #4, 81/100
Podcast hosting service with a free plan, automatic distribution to directories, analytics, and paid tiers for video, ads and team seats.
- Score: 81/100, #4 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $15 per month billed annually (Plus), $1.50 more than Simplecast's $13.50 source
- Free plan: yes (Simplecast: no) source
- Matches Simplecast: has all 7 features we verified for Simplecast
11 of 14 tracked details verified
- RedCircle · #5, 81/100
Podcast hosting platform with distribution, analytics and dynamic ad insertion, alongside an advertising marketplace for brands and podcasters.
- Score: 81/100, #5 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $14.99 billed monthly; not compared with Simplecast, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Free plan: yes (Simplecast: no) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Transcripts and 3 more
9 of 14 tracked details verified
- Buzzsprout · #6, 79/100
Podcast hosting service for publishing audio and video episodes to listening apps, with statistics, a podcast website and add-ons.
- Score: 79/100, #6 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $15 per month billed annually (Audio), $1.50 more than Simplecast's $13.50 source
- Free plan: yes (Simplecast: no) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, IAB-certified analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts and 4 more
10 of 14 tracked details verified
- Libsyn · #10, 74/100
Podcast hosting service for audio and video that distributes episodes to listening apps and offers analytics, a website and monetisation options.
- Score: 74/100, #10 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $12 billed monthly; not compared with Simplecast, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Video podcasts and 3 more
9 of 14 tracked details verified
- Transistor · #12, 72/100
Podcast hosting platform that hosts unlimited shows per account, with analytics, private podcasts, video hosting and a built-in website.
- Score: 72/100, #12 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $19 billed monthly; not compared with Simplecast, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Dynamic ad insertion, Transcripts, Video podcasts and 4 more
10 of 14 tracked details verified
- Podbean · #14, 69/100
Podcast hosting and monetisation platform offering distribution, analytics, a podcast website, ad tools and AI features for audio and video.
- Score: 69/100, #14 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $12 per month billed annually (Unlimited Audio), $1.50 less than Simplecast's $13.50 source
- Free plan: yes (Simplecast: no) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, IAB-certified analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion and 5 more
11 of 14 tracked details verified
- Castos · #16, 69/100
Podcast hosting platform covering distribution, private podcasting, analytics, transcripts, YouTube republishing and a WordPress plugin.
- Score: 69/100, #16 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $19 billed monthly; not compared with Simplecast, which publishes no price on the same billing basis source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Transcripts and 4 more
10 of 14 tracked details verified
- Captivate · #18, 67/100
Podcast hosting platform with distribution, analytics, private podcasting, websites and an ad marketplace for podcasters and advertisers.
- Score: 67/100, #18 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $17 per month billed annually (Personal), $3.50 more than Simplecast's $13.50 source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Private podcasts and 2 more
8 of 14 tracked details verified
- Podpage · #19, 61/100
Podcast website builder that imports new episodes from a podcast feed and updates the site, with SEO, social posting and email to listeners.
- Score: 61/100, #19 of 22 (Simplecast: 67/100, #17)
- Entry price: $12 per month billed annually (Basic), $1.50 less than Simplecast's $13.50 source
- Verified features: Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts, Podcast website
5 of 14 tracked details verified
Simplecast head to head
How we picked
- Pool: tools in the same market as the tool on this page: they list its primary category, and their own primary category is one it lists too. Explicit competitor links count as well.
- Closest first, at most 10: explicit competitors, then the same primary category, then more shared categories, then the smallest gap in entry price (per month, on a log scale), then more shared platforms, then name.
- Order on the page: tools ranked on the category scorecard by their category rank, then tools that are not ranked (no scorecard, or under 60% of the weight with verified data) in closeness order.
- Prices are compared only on the same billing basis (billed monthly with billed monthly, billed annually with billed annually). A feature counts as missing only when the vendor's page states it; a feature the vendor does not mention is not listed either way.
Every value is read from the vendor's own pages (or GitHub for licences and stars) and shown with the date we checked it. A value we could not verify is shown as a dash, never estimated, and never read as a “no”. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Methodology
The scorecard behind the ranks
Every one of these podcast hosting platforms is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v2). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to podcast hosting platforms. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other podcast hosting platforms on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $7/month or less = 100, $29 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $6.38/month or less = 100, $25.54 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 10 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (one-click distribution to podcast apps, listener analytics, iab-certified analytics, monetisation (ads or listener support), dynamic ad insertion, transcripts, video podcasts, private podcasts, podcast website, team access). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 5 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (30 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Shows per plan | 10% | Category | Podcasts included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Log scale: 10 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
| Upload allowance | 10% | Category | Upload hours per month included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Linear scale: 10 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | Category | Monthly price per user for a team of 3, on the cheapest paid plan that is priced per seat or states room for at least 3 users.Log scale: $6.16 per user or less = 100, $24.65 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a user limit are not used. No such plan = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Who are Simplecast's main competitors?
By our scorecard, the highest-ranked of its closest competitors are Podomatic (81/100), RSS.com (81/100) and RedCircle (81/100).
Which Simplecast competitor is cheapest?
Billed monthly, Podomatic starts lowest at $9.99 a month (Pro Plus). Entry plans differ in limits.
How does Simplecast rank against its competitors?
Simplecast is #17 of 22 ranked podcast hosting platforms with 67/100.
Which Simplecast competitors have a free plan?
Podomatic, RSS.com, RedCircle, Buzzsprout and Podbean.